


Midnight in the Valley

by shwamu



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Multi, eventually, like almost everybody is going to come up, like no romance rn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-06 20:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14655195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shwamu/pseuds/shwamu
Summary: Short snippets of the farmer and the Valley at strange hours.Chapter 4:Gunther is well aware how much of the library/museum he owes to the new farmer.





	1. Chapter 1

It's 11:00 P.M.

Well, it's probably 11:00 P.M. Sebastian isn't quite sure anymore. He probably left the saloon a little later than usual. While completely destroying Sam in pool again, he'd had a few drinks at the bar. Maybe a few too many though, considering the situation-

He's halfway across the front yard to his home but between him and the door is a person he's never seen before in his life. She's midstep in crossing the yard and underneath the porch light, Sebastian can see her staring at him like a deer in headlights.

"..."

"..."

"Late night?" the mysterious girl offers. Sebastian nods slowly and she faces him with a sheepish smile. "I uh... I'm Nii, the new farmer. Wasn't- wasn't really planning on meeting anyone on the way back..." 

She trails off, fumbling with the things in her arms as she frees a hand to tuck a strand of hair back. Her braid is loose and her pants have... strangely colored liquid staining them. As she moves, Sebastian can see the angry red scratches on her arms. Some of them are still bleeding, Sebastian notes, and that is definitely, /definitely/, a sword on her belt. He shouldn't have had that last shot with Abigail.

"...Sebastian." Should he ask if she needs the first aid kit? At least one of those cuts looks like it needs stitches.

"Robin's son right? She's been real kind so far. Mentioned you a few times." Sebastian watches as she rearranged her things back into two hands. "Good to have a face to the name now... Here. I got back from the caves, do any of these catch your eye?"

A drop of blood falls to the ground and Sebastian stares at the medley of slime, weeds, and gems. Gems being a scattering of earth crystals and quartz.

"I-" and what /even/ is his voice right now and how is she offering gifts right now, "Do you need a first aid kit?"

"Oh no, I'll be fine! Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix. Which I should really get to. That'd be good, wouldn't it? It'll be midnight soon..." The earth crystals clack together and as she rambles, Nii rearranges her bundle again to drop a piece of quart in Sebastian's hands.

There's a smudge of red on it. Sebastian doesn't want to think about it.

"Thanks. I like this."

"That's terrific! I'll be sure to grab one for you on my next run." She winks. Her smile is a little more confident, knowing that he liked the gift. "I should get back to the farm. Night Sebastian."

Sebastian watches as the new farmer rushes off and stares at the piece of quartz still in his hands for awhile until he finally decides to open the door. He's going to take a shower and he's going to bed and things will make sense tomorrow, he says to himself. Tomorrow, this will all be a dream and he'll never drink so much again.

Tomorrow.

The quartz is on his bedside table when he wakes up the next day.

Not a dream, then.


	2. Good Boy

"So I was talking with Haley yesterday-"

"Wait. Sam, what?" Sebastian looked up from the pool table to stare at his friend. "Haley?"

"Yeah, c'mon Seb, keep up. That's what I just said," Sam said offhandedly. He might have a chance at winning tonight.

"She called me gross after I tried to show her Joshua," Abigail recalled, her nose wrinkling in the memory.

"Isn't Joshua that frog you caught in the rain last week?" Sebastian sunk another ball to Sam's dismay. 

"To be fair, you were covered in mud." At least Sebastian wasn't doing the "your turn until you miss" thing. He'd be completely wrecked. But after a walk around the table, there weren't really any good shots for him to take. Maybe if... well. It was worth a try.

Nope.

"Nice try?" Abigail offered.

"Can I continue now?"

"Continue to lose?" Sebastian began lining up another shot with a smile.

"You guys are great. Fantastic friends. Just the best besties, aren't you?" 

"Sorry Sam. We'll be good now."

"Thank you Abby. But yeah, I was talking with Haley yesterday and she was telling me about how she saw Nii the other day."

"She comes to town like every other day for seeds. Dad thinks she's great," Abigail rearranged herself so that her head was hanging upside down off the couch.

"Yeah but apparently this time she was carrying a bunch of raw fish and vegetables. Haley thought she was heading up to your house, Sebastian, but apparently she, like, casually went into the old Community Center."

"Didn't Lewis lock that place up after Jas and Vincent came back saying it was haunted?"

"Yeah!" Sam nodded excitedly. "And here's the thing, Nii left the Center holding a furnace and nothing else. I've got it under oath that she was saying:"

_"Who's a good boy? Thank you for the reward, I'll be back with more soon. Good luck fixing the bridge!" ___

____

____

"..."

"What the fuck."

"Right?"


	3. Is This How Hamlet Goes?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam enjoys playing Pretend Pirate with Vincent but neither he nor his brother expected to find buried treasure today.
> 
> But that's the farmer for you, he supposed.

"Hey Vincent, hey Sam. What'cha looking at?"

"Miss Nii! I found worms!" the young boy cheered.

"Hey Nii. Are worms supposed to come this close to the ocean?" Sam asked as the farmer let loose a large grin.

"No, not usually," she replied and without an ounce of hesitation, Sam watched the girl pull out her hoe and till the spot with the worms fluidly.

"Are the worms okay?" Vincent asked. Nii nodded.

"Yup. I've gotten pretty good with this thing." She crouched down in front of the young boy and grabbed a large chunk of solid dirt and sand where the worms wiggled, unfazed. "See? Still wriggling."

"Oh, wow!" Sam had to agree with his little brother. That was pretty impressive in a weird, country farmer way.

Nii laughed and beckoned Sam to crouch down with them as she began moving the loose dirt she had tilled.

"Huh. Guess I'll have to make a trip to the museum later," Sam heard her say as she pulled out a skull from the dirt.

" _Oh, wow!!!_ "

What was his life.


	4. Museum Donation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gunther is well aware how much of the library/museum he owes to the new farmer.

Gunther settled down behind the library desk slowly, another book in his hand. He was looking forward to another peaceful day in this temple of knowledge. It was a cold winter day in Pelican Town but he made sure the library was good and warm.

Elliot was perusing the mystery section, hopefully he'd get more inspiration for that novel of his. Whether or not he made it big, the museum could certainly do with a signed first-edition. Penny sat with Jas and Vincent at one of the tables but, judging by Vincent fidgets, she'd probably step outside and let them take a break soon. He would have to keep an eye on Abigail though, she'd been eyeing the amethyst on display for the last two weeks.

The cold air rushed in and Gunther turned to see the farmer walking in, taking off her rucksack.

"Got a good haul yesterday, eh?" he grinned.

"Hopefully! Just got them processed by Clint," Nii grinned as she dumped the contents of her bag onto the table. Gunther winced as a diamond rolled off the table with a loud thunk.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. He sighed but smiled.

"Well let's take a look, shall we?" The librarian hummed as he sifted through the impressive collection of minerals. With it being the winter, Nii was spending most of her days mining. Gunther had enjoyed an influx of new items in the first week but the rate of new discoveries had ground to a slow halt. Bless her heart, Nii still regularly dug up a good book or so but he was so close to finishing the geode collection.

And it wasn't getting finished today.

"Sorry Nii. You've already given me all of these already, it looks like you don't have anything new."

Letting out a long groan, Nii gestured to the mess. "Gunther, I've been through the mines top to bottom at least three times at this point. What am I still missing?"

"Well, according to my records- a lemon stone. Apparently a dwarvish delicacy."

"What are the odds of it not existing?"

"Pretty low-"

"Because I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist." 

"As I've said before, you'll probably find it in an Omni Geode." He chuckled as Nii gave another long groan. They'd been through this conversation quite a few times now.

"Are you sure you don't want diamonds instead Gunther? Because I found five yesterday. Five of these beautiful and supposedly really rare gems. Probably worth twice as much as a lemon stone."

"You've already donated one to the Museum. And you're close. Diamonds are worth nearly four times as much."

"And you can mine diamonds. They come in these nice little nodes. Omni Geodes are this _shitty_ lottery that I have no choice but to play so I can get a lemon stone, _'apparently a dwarvish delicacy'_."

"Please watch your language Nii, Jas and Vincent could have heard you," Penny walked over, lightly admonishing her friend. Vincent already had Sam to teach him curse words to ask Penny about, she didn't need Nii to do so as well. "Is everything alright?"

"All good here Miss Penny. Nii's just having a bit of a collector's issue," Gunther replied with a gesture towards the assortment of minerals and artifacts on the front desk.

"I'm allowed to have my tantrum."

"Oh my! Are all these for the museum?" That was... that was a very large diamond on the floor.

"They are indeed."

"This is the fourth pile I've brought where Gunther didn't take a single thing," Nii grumbled as she crossed her arms.

"Well you should probably bring me a pile with something new in it, shouldn't you?" Gunther replied. With a sigh, Nii started her collecting things back into her bag. Penny watched as she placed her hoe inside it and casually pulled out a long obsidian sword. 

How... How did she fit everything?

Wait but why does she have a sword?

"Fifth time's the charm I suppose. I'll ship these off and give the mines another run." With a look at Gunther, Nii continued: "You sure they exist?"

"Sure as can be," the librarian replied. With a nod, the farmer swung her backpack over her shoulder and waved goodbye. Gunther turned towards Penny who was still standing at the front desk, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Does Nii usually bring things for the Museum?" Penny asked.

"She's been kind enough as to donate one of every mineral and artifact she's found. Including the reappearing lost books, everything you see on display in the museum was from her."

"Oh... _Oh my_..." 

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this was good? Planning some stuff with the new notes too. I'll leave a spoiler alert if/when we start getting into 1.3 Beta territory.


End file.
